The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) branch, has commenced a five-day warning strike over the non-payment of salaries owed to some members.
Dr. Ashiru Mikail, the association’s Vice President, announced this during a news conference on Monday in Zaria.
Mikail stated that the association had given hospital management a one-week ultimatum on July 15 to address their demands or face a warning strike. Since the ultimatum expired on Sunday, the warning strike has commenced.
The president said the association would reconvene to review its strategy after the warning strike and determine its next course of action.
Mikail emphasized that the association rejects percentage salary payments for members on the GIFMIS platform and demands repayment of parts of their salaries withheld.
He explained that in June, salaries for affected members were slashed by about 25 to 27 percent, representing N58,000 to N60,000. The doctors who were paid in percentage in June are owed salary arrears for 2021.
Mikail stated that despite the country’s harsh economic challenges, no reasonable reasons were advanced by management to justify the deductions.
“Management proposed paying N2 million per month from overhead costs to offset arrears of accouterment allowance. This amount can only cover N5,000 per member, whereas each member is owed N100,000.”
He noted that more than 60 percent of Federal Tertiary Health institutions in the North West zone have commenced payments of arrears of accouterment allowance, while ABUTH has not. Instead, they proposed paying N5,000 instead of N25,000.
The association demands the implementation of the 25 percent CONMESS upward review of salaries for members on the GIFMIS platform among other demands.
